Saturday, August 23, 2014

Biology-101 ..... Does Institutional Persistence Without Change Slow Adaptive Rate? (Does a Duck Swim?)

   (Commentary posted by Roger Erickson)





So was Minsky the only economist who ever took biology 101?

Why don't all economics students learn this BEFORE starting college?

"The very stability of institutions .. is .. the source of political decay [as] circumstances change and institutions fail to adapt."

Ya think? (Really, I had no idea that people in other professions had NOT learned that at the onset of their education!)

That observation was the STARTING point of the theory of evolution - articulated and discussed as early as 1840 - and the onset of modern biology.

170 years ago, and that's not an axiom of economics? What the hell happened to the fundamental concept of a well-rounded education? Today's specialists wander only among their own choir?

If at least 10% of an electorate doesn't understand some prerequisite for democratic organization ... then that electorate won't require their politicians to understand. Consequently, Policy Space will shrink, and Policy Agility will dwindle. Without an informed electorate, an informed policy staff is highly improbable.

It's that simple?

"We" as a people are what we (in aggregate) train and practice becoming? Failing to quickly incorporate adaptive perspectives into preparatory education amounts to yet another shabby trick - played on ourselves!

This naturally leads to a simple conclusion, borrowed from the field of statistical process control. "Cease, forever, checking for [Adaptive Value] after the fact. Instead, [continuously manage Adaptive Value from the onset of the development process]."

In short, if we don't revitalize K-12 education, we can't succeed in our own Adaptive Race. Nor will our erstwhile democracy.



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